Chapter 3

The seed of revenge took root inside me.

I wanted to make him suffer—deeply.

Every day, I treated Dorian with icy coldness while piling on unreasonable demands.

Even though there were nurses assigned to take care of me in the hospital, I refused their help. I insisted that he do everything himself.

If I didn’t see him for even a minute, I’d blow up his phone with calls and messages.

At home, we had a housekeeper who cooked, but I refused to eat her food. I made Dorian cook for me instead. I wouldn’t share the bed with him, so he slept on the floor without a word.

During that time, he seemed to become the man who once only loved me again.

Before I was discharged, I brought up divorce. He refused.

I mentioned it again during our battles at home. Still, he refused.

One night, I spat out venom: “Dorian Hayes, divorce me! Once we’re done, go run back to your mistresses and stop torturing yourself with me! Go ahead—go find them!”

He just looked at me, eyes glistening with pain.

“Zadie, please don’t do this. I was wrong.”

I was tearing myself apart, but I couldn’t stop.

I was a lunatic. If he wasn’t with me, I convinced myself he was with someone else.

I followed him secretly, installed GPS on his phone, and checked his every move.

His male assistant even updated me every ten minutes. Everything was above board.

But my trust was shattered beyond repair.

Once trust breaks, no matter how hard you try, it’s never the same.

One night, when he came home late, we exploded. I caught the scent of a woman’s perfume on his jacket.

I lost it.

I accused him, screamed, and smashed the keepsake mug from our early days. I shattered our wedding photo too.

It was as if the universe was marking the death of our marriage.

But he still wouldn’t give up.

“Zadie, I messed up, but I only love you.”

A wave of helplessness crashed over me. If you love me, why hurt me? If you love me, why betray me?

Then, he said something that cut deeper than any lie: “Zadie, go find yourself a young man. Date him. Maybe then you’ll understand how I felt.”

From then on, he stopped hiding. He kept his lovers out of sight, but no longer pretended they didn’t exist.

Sienna was the first.

She had the nerve to show up and provoke me—because Dorian had given her that confidence. He got her pregnant.

All because...He wanted a child of his own.

When he tried to comfort me, Sienna clung to him like glue. He couldn’t push away a pregnant woman, so he just sat beside her quietly.

I forced myself to breathe deeply.

“Dorian, remember what you promised me over the phone.”

“You’re moving out today. I’ll have a lawyer draw up the papers. We’ll meet at the courthouse.”

I glanced at Sienna’s belly and said, in the calmest, coldest voice.

“I know what you’re planning. If you go through with it, I won’t hesitate to ruin that child’s life. You know I mean every word.”

“The assets will be split fifty-fifty. This house stays with me.”

He wanted me to raise Sienna’s child? What a convenient plan.

He opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again.

Sienna, on the other hand, exploded: “Why should Zadie get half of Dorian’s assets?”

I looked at her ice-cold. “Because he owes me.”

“Now both of you—get out! I don’t want either of you in my home for one more second.”

I pointed toward the door and turned away without another word.

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